. Plants of New Zealand. nias are also to be met with in such situations. The tussock country is dearly loved by every New is full of associations for him. The stock-rider, the shepherd,the swaggei, and even the sun-downer know every aspect of GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 it. They have seen it in early morning, when everytawny thread had its string of clammy mist drops. Theyhave seen it again at midday, a parched and thirsty land,that seemed to be covered with broken yellow wavelets,flying before the fierce squalls of the nor-wester. Theyhave stumbled through the entangled tufts at nigh
. Plants of New Zealand. nias are also to be met with in such situations. The tussock country is dearly loved by every New is full of associations for him. The stock-rider, the shepherd,the swaggei, and even the sun-downer know every aspect of GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 it. They have seen it in early morning, when everytawny thread had its string of clammy mist drops. Theyhave seen it again at midday, a parched and thirsty land,that seemed to be covered with broken yellow wavelets,flying before the fierce squalls of the nor-wester. Theyhave stumbled through the entangled tufts at night, too tiredto lift their feet. They have slept amongst them, tyingtogether adjacent bunches to form a tunnel in which theymight be sheltered from the cutting night winds of the plain. In many places, particularly near water courses or shinglyriver beds, the toi-toi {Aruiido conspicua) largely replaces thetussock. It is the tallest and most conspicuous grass in theNew Zealand Flora. It bears a considerable resemblance to. Fig. 2—Nigger-heads. the magnificent Pampas Grass of the Argentine, now cultivatedall over the world. It is not, however, so large or so beautifulas the American grass ; it flowers at a different season, and mayreadily be distinguished by the more graceful droop of theflowerstalk. The plumes of the pampas grass are taller,straighter, and stiffer than those of the toi-toi. The edges ofstreams on the tussock-clad plains are often fringed with flaxand bulrush, whilst, in the water itself, stand numbers ofblackened stumps about two feet high, bearing on their summitsdrooping brushes of long, coarse, green, or tawny are termed by the colonists, nigger-heads. This plant, {Carex secta) carries out literally the advice ofSt. Augustine, and makes of its dead-self a stepping stone to 6 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND higher things, for the lower portion of the stump consists of thedead roots of past seasons; and by growing on these the plantgradually raises itself
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